Effective revetment systems can be essential to retain surface soil and material in place in water flow areas. For instance, a dry stream bed may experience occasional wash outs during heavy storm events. Shorelines along a lake or beach may be subject to corrosive wave and/or tidal action. Additionally, sloped surfaces such as an earthen dam face or hills and slopes next to roads or building sites can benefit from effective revetment systems.
Conventional, single-layer revetments, optionally mounted on a geotextile fabric, may be appropriate for many applications. These sorts of single-layer systems include covering a subgrade with a geotextile fabric in combination with articulated concrete blocks or a cellular confinement system. However, some of these revetment systems may be subject to high water velocities, wave attack and potentially a hydraulic jump during a high-flow event such as a substantial rain storm, flooding or high tides. In these events, water can wash out the subgrade dirt and material underneath a revetment system. This can cause a slope to collapse and banks and surfaces to erode. In extreme situations, this can lead to dam breaches.